Ford Says Goodbye To Doug Field And Hello To A Lineup Refresh
Cars, trucks, and SUVs come and go, and so do the people who make them happen.
After around five years at Ford, Doug Field is reportedly exiting the company, with the ex-Tesla and Apple EV tech exec moving on to what he hopes are greener pastures. Field apparently thinks his work at Ford is done and wrapped up with a positive outlook, leaving him to explore other venues and ventures.
The news of Doug Field leaving Ford oddly coincides with the brand allegedly announcing plans for a fully reworked lineup due by 2029. CarScoops reports that the big rework is only a few years out, and much of the push is thanks to the company's need to try and set the automotive world alight once again.
With Field gone, it leaves Ford to rework its teams and subsequently the platforms on which it builds and sells vehicles. Having made his mark on the electric vehicle market and especially Ford's EVs, Field can finally move on. Ford, however, needs to work hard to do so, now that their beacon is gone.
Ford and Field might have parted ways, but that doesn't mean the American manufacturer is abandoning development. Instead, they created a new division of the company called Production Creation and Industrialization. COO Kumar Galhotra will head up the ordeal, while Alan Clarke will manage the Advanced Development Projects team. Under the two, Ford seeks to bring about innovations and tech that push the company into the future.
And into the future, it seems the brand is focusing, with a reported 80% of the lineup due to be refreshed by 2029. Let's be honest: Much of Ford's catalog is due for an overhaul. The brand's biggest and most important offerings are all really getting on in their years—the F-150 hasn't seen a real update since 2021, the S650 Mustang is effectively a lightly overhauled S550 Mustang (which dates back to 2015), the Maverick is on a platform from 2018, and so on. Even the Mach-E and F-150 Lightning are over five years old. Time flies.
All of this is to say, Ford's product catalog is towards the back end of a production cycle, one which will inevitably swap ends and mean an enormous amount of innovation comes about quickly. Allegedly, the plan is to refresh 80% of the vehicles by 2029, the fruits of the labor for which remain to be seen. With the rapid evolution of EVs and tech, it's anyone's guess as to what this actually means when it comes to Ford's lineup. Your guess is as good as ours.
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Based in Connecticut, Ross hosts The Hooniverse Podcast. He has been in the off-road world since he was a kid riding in the back of his dad’s YJ Wrangler. He works in marketing by day and in his free time contributes to Hooniverse, AutoGuide, and ATV.com, and in the past has contributed to UTV Driver, ATV Rider, and Everyday Driver. Ross drives a 2018 Lexus GX460 that is an ongoing build project featured on multiple websites and the podcast.
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It needs this .They are by far the best trucks made .Toyotas are next with gm third , until Hyundai has theirs .